The Rise and Redemption of EMIYA
by aquahaloninja
Summary: Shirou Emiya is a young man with a dream. To become a hero of justice. This is his story, as he finds friends, adversity, his family's past, and learns that not everyone who holds the title 'hero' is worthy of it.
1. Fateful Day

**Chapter 1: Fateful Day**

I woke with a long yawn and stretched my arms as forward as they would go. Then I looked at my clock, saw the time, and proceeded to leap out of bed and throw some clothes on. No time for breakfast, not when I was this late! Grabbing my bag off the couch as I ran toward the door, I burst outside, locked the door, and dashed toward the train station.

After I boarded the train and the doors had closed, I let out a sigh of relief. I made it, albeit barely. I cut it close. Too close. I shouldn't have stayed up so late practicing. Not getting enough practice is better than oversleeping and missing the entrance exam. There's no way I can let myself fail now; now that the day has come. This could be the most important day of my life. The day when I get to prove myself. The day when I take the first step on the path to reaching my fathers dream; our dream.

About fifteen minutes had past by the time I reached my destination. I exited the train and checked my phone for directions. I may have wanted to go to U.A. for years, but that doesn't mean I know where it is. I've never had a reason to actually go there before now. Walking down the street toward the revered hero school, I noticed a bunch of other teenagers going in the same direction. My competition.

As I finally reached and entered the gates, I saw a boy with black and green hair floating and flailing around. I was about to go over and ask if he needed help, but then a cute brown haired girl helped him down. Seeing as the situation was under control, I went inside, signed in, and joined the other aspiring heroes in the assembly room.

The hero Present Mic proceeded to explain how the practical exam worked; the more robots you destroy, and the bigger they are, the more points you get. Except for the biggest one, which is worth zero points and is to be avoided. Get enough points, you pass and get to move on to the written exam. Don't get enough points and you can get a perfect score on the written part and it wont matter, and vice versa. Seemed simple enough. When Mic finished yelling at the crowd, and that tall kid was done lecturing the floating kid from outside, we were corralled towards our respective testing areas. I followed the flow of people and joined the crowd at the entrance to the testing area. I scanned the crowd and noticed some familiar faces. I saw cute girl, seemingly trying to calm herself down, and tall kid once again lecturing floating kid. I should probably follow cute girl's lead and prepare myself for the trials ahead. Closing my eyes, I try to make a plan. What kind of plan can I make when I barely know anything about the-

"AAAAND START!"

Wait, what? Start? My eyes flash open and dart around, seeing the crowd far ahead and-is that floating boy? He looks frozen, probably the shock of what seemingly happened to both of us. We got left in the dust because we weren't paying attention. I shake off the disappointment in myself and grabbed floating kid. "Come on, floating kid, lets get moving!" He made a surprised noise and flailed in protest as I dragged him along, but then he stopped as he seemed to realize that I was trying to help.

"T-Thanks for knocking me out of that trance," he stuttered, "but can you let go of me now?" That was the moment I realized that I was still dragging him. I let go immediately.

"Sorry, I didn't realize I was still pulling you. Oh, and it was nothing. I couldn't just leave you like that." After I said that, he stared at me for a moment, like he was confused. Then he smiled brightly at me.

"You're my competition. You didn't have to do that for me. Thank you." I smiled back. Then his face contorted into one of shock. "Oh crap, we have to get moving!" He yelled, waving his arms around in panic. Damn, he's right.

"Well, I guess it's my turn to thank you for snapping me out of a haze. We should probably split up though, so we aren't each others competition directly."

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to hurt a friend's chances of getting into U.A." He said. Then immediately began to flail around again. "Not to say we're friends or anything! We just met! I just meant that-" I cut him off by stretching out my hand towards him.

"Friends." I said with another smile.

"Friends." He respond with a smile of his own.

We both turned and ran off into separate parts of the faux city.


	2. The Faux City

**Chapter 2: The Faux City**

I ran through the city, looking for robots not currently fighting another U.A. hopeful. I didn't want to steal someone else's points; plus, it might be to much trouble to be worth the hassle. As I dashed through the streets I had to keep refocusing myself from the crazy things I passed. I saw a guy with a stomach beam that sparkled, a kid made of metal, and someone faster than I could ever hope to be. Then I saw it. Unattended robots. Here we go.

"Trace on," I said, as I reached into my core with my mind. Then, I mentally grabbed at the familiar shapes I'd grown to know so well that they were practically an extension of my own self. Finally, I pulled, and they appeared. In my hands shimmered a blue light, which was quickly replaced by twin swords. Kanshou and Bakuya. I tighten my grip on my weapons and charge. The robot that I chose to hit first snaps it's head towards me and locks on, readying its attack. It never got a chance to fire. I leaped into the air and slashed downward with both swords. My swing, with the assistance of gravity, went clean through the robots head. The bot's 'eye' immediately stopped glowing, and the whole thing began to collapse as I landed. "One point," I said, standing up. Then I heard the sound of launching missiles. I spun around and threw my swords into the missiles, causing a few to explode. This set off a chain reaction; the exploding missiles caused the others to explode, which set off the rest. As this happened, I traced the twin swords again. I then threw them again, this time aiming for the missile launcher. The swords, once they hit their target, were lodged in the launcher, effectively obscuring multiple slots which the missiles shot from. This obviously caused some problems. Even though the robots last attempt was foiled, it began to try the same thing again. It didn't work. The missiles from the blocked holes hit the swords and exploded. This set off another chain reaction, causing the launcher, along with the entire robot, to implode. "Three points," I said.

This process continued for the next seven or so minutes. I found a robot, or it found me, I destroyed it and moved on. It wasn't exactly trivial, but it wasn't extremely hard, either. To summarize, it was underwhelming. Then again, what if I wasn't going fast enough? What if everyone had more points than I did? I just need to go faster, get more-what the hell is that? My train of thought was suddenly derailed by the biggest thing I had ever seen. Wait a minute. 'These are worth zero points. I recommend you avoid them.' Great. I could partially see it a few streets away, blocked from full view by a couple rows of buildings. It shouldn't be a problem for me. The others, however...no, no way they would set them to kill. Then again, some of the other robots had missiles. And machine guns. "Damn it," I muttered as I ran toward the giant robot.

I dashed across streets and in between buildings towards the ridiculously huge machine. As I was nearing it, I hit a crowd going in the opposite direction. I noticed some of the weird or shocked looks they were giving me, but I just dismissed them. Then I felt someone's hand grab my arm and a voice say "Are you insane? Why are you going towards it?" He yelled over the noise of the robot and the crumbling city. Instead of answering his question, I responded with my own.

"Is anyone still back there?" I ask, with worry lacing my words. As I looked over at him, I realized it was tall kid. His face once again showed shock as he heard my words, then switched to guilt, and finally landed on determination.

"Yes, I think so. I'm going with you." He responded. I nodded, agreeing since we might need to carry someone out and I might need the extra manpower. We both headed into the dust-covered area, looking for injured. Then we saw them. Cute girl, stuck underneath rubble, and right in the robot's path. In front of her was my new friend, floating kid. I never did get his name. We began to call out to them as we raced toward them. Just as we were reaching floating kid, he stood and began to run. Then he crouched. Then, he JUMPED. He leaped into the sky, cracking the cement below and pushing us back. We both just stood there, watching in shock and awe he soared toward the villainous robot, rearing back his arm. Then he yelled one word.

"SMAAAAAAAAAASH!" He plunged his fist into the things face, throwing it back and causing various explosions across its body. Then it fell. It crashed into the ground, definitely destroying anything underneath it. It wasn't the only thing that fell. The floating kid...no, that doesn't seem to really fit anymore. The smash kid was falling, too. It wasn't a controlled fall, though. His limbs, except for his left arm, were flapping everywhere in a way that shouldn't be humanly possible. It was almost like...his limbs were broken. There's no way he could land without dying on his own. Maybe if he smashed the ground at the correct, precise moment, he'd survive. If he was a second too late or too early...

"We've gotta catch him," I tell tall kid. "Run at me, I'll give you a boost and you can jump and catch-"

"I don't think that will be necessary," said tall kid, cutting me off.

"What do you mean? What-"

"Look," He said, cutting me off again while pointing behind me. I turned around and saw...cute girl? She must have somehow freed herself and was currently riding a floating robo-corpse. Smash kid was gaining speed and about to smash his face into the concrete. He was falling...and falling...right past cute girl...and smack. Smash kid became floating kid again. Smashy was floating just above the ground when he suddenly fell to the pavement, albeit safely this time, along with cute girl and her robot. Then she vomited. She seemed okay, though. Everyone was okay. Then I remembered smash kid. One look at him confirmed that he was definitely NOT okay, but he was alive. His limbs will heal. I may have abandoned the exam near the end, but I don't regret what I did. I was there to help if anyone had needed it. I looked over at tall kid. No, I wasn't there to help. We were.

"Hey," I said, getting his attention. "What's your name?" Hearing that, his entire body shifted from tired teen to formal adult.

"I am Tenya Iida, pleased to meet you!" He said, loud and proud, with a slightly overdramatic bow.

"I'm Shirou Emiya," I responded, smiling at his strangely formal demeanor. "Nice to meet you, too."

"ANNNND TIME'S UP!"

I hope the points I got were enough.


	3. Welcome to UA

**Chapter 3: Welcome to U.A.**

After an old woman, who turned out to be Recovery Girl, healed smash kid, we were all told to see her if we needed healing. If not, we were to go home and await the test results. I wanted to talk to smash kid, try and get his name, but he had left as soon as we were dismissed. I, on the other hand, stayed and talked to Iida.

"That was...something else," I state, still shocked that the meek kid I met at the entrance to the exam had that much power. Then again, I shouldn't be judging people by how they look. Especially when it comes to quirks.

"Yes, I was quite surprised when he displayed such power. He looked so..." Iida trailed off, looking for the right word.

"Weak?" I said, finishing his sentence.

"Yes," he said with a sigh. "I suppose I shouldn't have made that judgment based on appearances alone." We both stood there in silence for a moment, feeling slightly ashamed of ourselves.

"Anyway," I said, cutting through the silence, "you're one of THE Iidas, right?" I questioned. He grimaced and looked off to the side.

"So, you know. I had hoped to keep it a secret from others as long as I could, but here you are, figuring out my secret before the first day," he said solemnly, but also slightly impressed.

"Well, don't give me that much credit. It wasn't that hard. You share a family name with one of the best heroes out there, Ingenium," I said, and I meant it. Ingenium is one of the most skilled and moral heroes out there. Unlike some other popular pros...

"So, Emiya, how many points did you get?" Iida asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Forty-one, I think. What did you get?" I asked.

"Fifty-two, but forty-one is a great score. At least, I think it is. There was no max amount of points we could earn, so we don't know what's good, and we don't know everyone else's scores, so we can't compare," he said. "Anyways, I was wondering, what kind of quirk do you have?"

"My quirk is called Sword. I can use it to summon two swords called Kanshou and Bakuya," I explained as I materialized them in my hands. He seemed a bit caught off guard by this explanation

"Just swords? No other abilities or powers?" He asked, perplexed.

"Yep," I responded, "just swords. I can make as many as I want, though. As long as I have an empty hand. Like, if I threw my swords at something, I could make new ones to fight with."

"And the thrown ones wouldn't disappear?" He asked.

"Nope. I just trace new ones," I stated.

"Trace?"

"Oh, yeah...when I was little, to focus on the internal image of my swords, I traced their shapes in my mind. I don't have to do that anymore, but I still use the word to describe summoning them," I explained.

"Well, what do you do to summon them now?" Iida asked.

"I just, kinda, can feel where they are inside me. I reach out, grab them, and pull them into the world," I explained, though maybe not very well.

"Hmmm, intriguing," Iida said, seemingly interested. He looked like he was about to say something else, but stopped himself before he spoke and quickly pulled out his phone. He immediately shoved it back into his pocket, revealing his shocked face. "I'm sorry! I'd love to talk more, but I'm going to be late! I'm supposed to be home in ten minutes! I have to go!" He yelled over his shoulder as he dashed towards the train station. "I hope to see you in class, Emiya!" Hmmm, he was nice. Strange, but nice. I hope he makes it in. It'd be nice to have a friend at U.A. One besides smash kid. Not that I don't like him, just the more friends the better. Then again, I scoffed, what would I know about having a lot of friends. Besides, they might not even make it in. Hell, I might not make it in. No, stop; I can't think like that. I have to believe that I succeeded. I have to believe in myself.

* * *

As I got off the train and neared my house, I thought about the week that awaited me. It was going to be agony. The only thing that would be on my mind is that damn U.A. letter. I wouldn't be able to focus on anything else. Well, I guess all I can do is try to train and block out everything else...

"SHIIIIIIIROU!"

Well, at least I can try.

Running out of my house towards me as I approached home was none other than pain in the ass number one in my life, Taiga Fujimura; or as I tend to call her, Fuji-nee. She was basically the older sister I never asked for. She was friends with my Dad, so when he died she took on the responsibility of being my guardian. Once again, something I didn't ask for. I had already been taking care of myself ever since my Dad's condition went from bad to worse, so it's not like I needed a guardian. Plus, she didn't even do anything! All she did was lay around and tell me to cook for her, which I always ended up doing in the end. It's not like I let her starve. She'd do the same for me if I needed it. I guess that sums up our relationship pretty well. We bicker and fight, but if one us really needed something, the other would move mountains to get it. Right now, however, we were at the bickering part.

"SHIIIIIIIROU, I NEED FOOD," she screamed as she attempted to tackle me. I simply stepped out of the way and watched as she plummeted to the ground. She landed with a loud thump and just laid there for a minute, probably wondering where her attack plan went wrong. I stared at her and sighed.

"Come on, Tiger, get up," I said, offering my hand. She immediately looked up at me with fire in her eyes.

"I told you, NEVER CALL ME THAT," Taiga growled as she grabbed my hand and pulled me down to the ground with her. We both just kinda sat there, me glaring at her, her smirking at me. Then, I finally broke the silence.

"Well, if you're done attacking me, we could go inside," I told her, still glaring. She continued to smirk until her face changed to one of realization, and she opened her mouth once again.

"WAIT A MINUTE! Today was the entrance exam, right? How'd it go? Was it as hard as they say? Did you get in?!" She rapid fired questions at me.

"Geez, Fuji-nee, calm down! It went fine, it was actually easier than I expected, and I don't know if I got in yet," I answered. "The results will be here in around a week. All we can do until then is wait."

"Awwwwwwwww, but I wanna know now..." she whined, pouting with her arms crossed. I just smiled and shook my head at her antics. I stood up and then pulled her to her feet.

"C'mon, Tiger, let's go make you some food," I said, motioning my head towards the house.

"TIGER!?" She yelled. "Now listen here, you-wait," she cut herself off. Then her face contorted into one of bliss. "Did you say...food?" I sighed.

"Yes, I did. Now, are you coming?" I asked, getting slightly impatient. She wiped the blissful look off of her face, replacing it with a smile, and saluted me.

"Aye aye, captain!" She said happily.

* * *

Days passed slowly at first, but they began to fly by as I threw myself into my training more and more. Soon enough, it was the day the letter was supposed to arrive. I waited for it to arrive, watching the mailbox through the window of my room. I kept telling myself I should be training, and just waiting is wasting time, but I still couldn't pry myself from the window all the same. My future was riding on this. My father's dream. My dream. It was all at stake. I waited...and waited...and waited... and then, through some miracle, the truck finally arrived. I ran for it, dashing out the door, snatching the letter from the mailman with a 'thank you,' and dashing back inside and into my room. This whole episode had Fuji-nee flailing, demanding why I was suddenly running around, but I ignored her. I sat on the ground, traced Bakuya, and sliced open the letter. I reached in and grabbed the disk inside. As soon as I grabbed it, it began projecting the image of the greatest, well, second greatest in my eyes, hero of all time. All Might.

"Hello, young Emiya!" He boomed. "I AM HERE, as a projection!" He laughed, causing someone off screen to tell him to hurry up. "Yeah, yeah," he said, waving them away. Then he began.

"As you know, I am here to give you the results of your exam. On the written exam, you passed with flying colors. Now, on the practical exam, you scored forty-one combat points. You likely already knew this by keeping score yourself. Now this alone would've been a passing score..."

"Yes!" I yelled. Then my brain processed his whole sentence. "This alone?" I questioned.

"...but were not done yet, my boy! You also earned rescue points for your actions during the exam! For helping out young Izuku Midoriya, throwing away your chances of getting more points and securing your safety by attempting to save Ochako Uraraka, and your amazing skill and prowess with your quirk, you have earned...THIRTY-SEVEN RESCUE POINTS! Good job, young Emiya!" All Might said with a grin and a thumbs up.

I was dumbstruck. Thirty-seven? If forty-one points was a passing grade on its own, then seventy-eight must be insanely high. How high did I...

"This brings your total to seventy-eight; the highest score on the practical exam!'

...score. The number one spot? I scored number one? This is...amazing. Pros will actually pay attention to me. Then again, so will the other students, and that could be a problem. I don't want to start any feuds with the other students. Well, I guess I can't do anything about it now. In fact, it doesn't really matter. I got in. I made it. I hope I'm making you proud, Dad.

"Bottom line is, you made it. Welcome to U.A."


	4. The Girl in Red

**Chapter 4: The Girl in Red**

"Shirou!" Yelled Taiga. "Get UP!"

Hmmm. What? Get up? Why would I need to get up? I still have one more day until school starts. I ignore her and curl deeper into the covers. Just as I am about to enter the warm embrace of sleep once more, a thought occurs. Yesterday was Sunday, wasn't t it? That means today is...shit. I leap out of bed, throwing my uniform on as I make my way to the door. Great, now I'm getting flashbacks to exam day. I shouldn't have spent last night fixing Mrs. Adachi's blender; I barely got any sleep because of it. As I barrel out into the hallway, I run straight into Taiga; causing her to yelp as she fell to the ground.

"Geez, Shirou!" She whined from the floor. I help her up while she scowls at me. "What's with you, Shirou? Sleeping late isn't exactly out of the ordinary for you, but today's important! I don't want Kiritsugu's ghost coming back to haunt me because you got expelled for being late since I couldn't get you to school on time!" She chastised.

"It's fine, Fuji-nee. I'll get there on time, I'll just have to sprint to catch the train," I say, moving past her and towards the door. Taiga gasps.

"B-b-but, what about breakfast?" She stutters, her face one of horror.

"I'll survive until lunch," I tell her, sliding my shoes on. I reach for the doorknob, but Taiga grabs my arm.

"But I won't!" She cries, pulling me back towards the kitchen. I break free after a minute or two of yanking back and forth and dash out the door.

"Bye, Tiger!" I yelled with a smirk over my shoulder as I ran down the street towards the station. As Taiga's resulting scream faded into the distance, I continued to speed up. After a few minutes of running, the train station came into view. I pulled out my phone and checked the time. Good, about a minute left. I'll make it! With my train pass in hand, I prepared to board. Then, something hit me from behind, and I hit the ground face first.

Owww. That hurt. I've had worse by far, though.

"Hey, are you okay?" A sweet voice says from behind me. Wait, I know that voice.

No, not her.

"I'm sorry, I was running to catch the train! Are you okay?"

No, it can't be her. What are the odds that it would actually be her?

"Are you still conscious? Did I knock him out? Somebody get help, I know CPR!"

"Nope! I'm okay!" I said as I pushed myself off the ground. Slowly, I turn towards the direction the voice of my assaulter, and would be rescuer, came from. Please don't be her, please don't be-

"Emiya?"

It's her.

"Hey, Tohsaka..." I mumbled, avoiding her gaze.

"What are you doing here, Emiya? Your school should be in the other direction based on the district we lived in." Of course. She didn't even consider for a second that I might have gotten into U.A. I look her up and down. She's wearing the U.A. school uniform. Well, that confirms what was already obvious; she got in. The uniforms standard, except for one change. Tohsaka seems to have ditched the uniform's jacket in exchange for her favorite long red one. That's not very surprising, as she always wore it over the uniform of our old middle school. Plus, she's not the type of person who you typically say no to. Speaking of uniforms, did she just gloss over observing my U.A. uniform because she was too busy telling me how wrong I was to have come this way?

She sighs. "I swear, Emyia, you are hopeless. You got distracted while trying to help someone again, didn't you?" She said, facepalming. I tried to interject, but she didn't give me the chance. She grabbed my hand and dragged me to my feet. "Come on, I'll take you there. You made me miss my train, so I'm gonna be late anyway."

"We missed the train?!" I exclaimed, finally responding to her monolog.

"No, I missed the train," she explained, putting emphasis on the I. "Now, come on, let's get going. I don't want to be even later than I already am." As she dragged me to another platform, I realized that she'd been holding my hand this entire time. My face immediately heated up, and I tried to let go, but she wasn't having it. She intensified her grip to make sure I couldn't go anywhere. "Trying to escape?" She said, looking back at me with a smirk. "Not happening, Emyia. You have to go to school, whether you want to or not." I sigh. Well, time to blow her mind.

"Tohsaka, I was already on my way to school. Also, didn't you notice something about my uniform?" I ask with an eyebrow raised. She looks at my uniform for a moment, and her eyes widen. Then she looks at her own uniform, and then back at mine again. Her eyes widen even more.

"What?! You got into U.A? You of all people?! How?" She asks, bombarding me with questions, shock obvious in her voice.

"I took the entrance exam and I passed," I deadpanned. She glared at me.

"I know that...now. What I meant was, how did you pull it off? I've never heard of a quirkless person getting into U.A." What. Does she...

"You think I'm quirkless?" I ask, dumbfounded. If her face looked shocked before, it was nothing compared to now.

"You're...not?" She managed to squeak out of her distorted face.

"No," I said slowly, still thrown off by this new revelation, "I'm not. I have a quirk. I have as long as I can remember." She just stared at me, as if she waiting for something.

"Well, what is it?!" She demanded. Oh.

"Well, I can...you know what, we're going to be really late. Can we start walking so we don't get expelled, and I'll tell you on the way?' I proposed. She crossed her arms and huffed, but still nodded her head in agreement. We left the train station and began the walk to school. As we walked, I explained what my quirk was, and she explained why she never knew I had a quirk and (reluctantly) apologized for assuming.

"So, I guess since we never really hung out and we didn't talk much, and because you never showed it off or talked about it, I just assumed it was because you didn't have one," Rin stated.

"Well, that makes sense. I never used my quirk because we weren't supposed to in school, and I only talked to a few people enough for our quirks to come up in conversation. I do have one question, though," I said.

"What is it?"

"If most people thought I was quirkless, then why wasn't I made fun of because of it?" I asked.

"Oh, that's easy. You fixed everyone's stuff, so no one wanted to piss you off. Except for Shinji, of course," Rin said, matter-of-factly.

"Huh," I said, taking in that new piece of information. "Well, that answers that."

"Anyway," she said, quickly moving on, "show me your quirk! I wanna see these swords of yours!" She said, leaning in close as she said it.

"Uhhh..." I trailed off, slowly backing up as my face became red. Then I noticed that smirk of hers again. Wait a minute. She's doing this on purpose! She's purposely teasing me just so she'll get a reaction! Ok, Shirou, you can deal with this. Just use the fact that you know what she's doing to your advantage. Just ignore her.

"Something wrong, Emiya?" She said sweetly, moving closer as I moved farther away. My face continued to get red. Okay, plan B. Retreat.

"Let's...get to class. W-w-we're already late," I stuttered as I began to walk faster than before. Behind me, I heard her snicker as she followed. Oh, I'm gonna love leaving these interactions behind once we both go off to our separate classes.

Once we reached the entrance, we both said our goodbyes and headed off to class. Except...we kept walking in the same direction. "Oh, I guess we go the same way for a bit," Tohsaka deduced.

"I suppose we do," I responded. We kept walking to class, never once deviating from the other's path. I slowly began to get nervous. I looked over at Tohsaka. She was starting to look confused. As we walked through the pristine halls of U.A. towards our destinations, something about our destinations became clear.

"Ummm, you can go on to your class now," Tohsaka said nervously, standing in front of the door of class 1-A. I turned to face her from my place right beside her.

"No, you go on ahead to your class. I insist," I told her, knowing attempts to deny what was clearly happening were just delaying the inevitable.

The thing about our destinations was...

"Hey, you guys in class 1-A?" We heard from inside the aforementioned class. We both replied at the same time.

"Yes."

...they were the same place.

I frowned and let out a sigh, as all the teasing and torture that was potentially ahead of me was confirmed to be on its way. I looked over at Tohsaka to gauge her reaction. It was pretty much what I expected. She had a look on her face that probably wouldn't look out of place if she was told a dog had gotten into the same class as her. I sighed once again and trudged on inside. This was going to be a long three years.


	5. Class 1-A

**Chapter 5: Class 1-A**

I walked into the classroom and found a seat near the middle of the room. I sat down and deposited my stuff next to my seat. Seated beside me was a kid with spiky red hair, red, not orange like mine, and a wicked smile. He must have seen me looking at him out of the corner of his eye, because he turned towards me and spoke.

"So, you finally found your way inside?" Oh, I recognize his voice. He's the one who called to me and Tohsaka. "Unlike your lady friend over there," he continued. "I'm Eijiro Kirishima, nice to meet you!" He introduced, with the same smile from before. "By the way, is she okay?" He asked, looking mildly concerned. I looked over at the entrance to the room. Still standing there in the doorway was Tohsaka, looking as stunned as ever. She finally seemed to notice that she was making a scene and moved towards...oh shit. She was suddenly beside me, pushing Kirishima's head out of the way, and slammed her hand down on my desk.

"EMIYA," She yelled, "how the HELL did you make it into the hero course!" Yep, there it is. Considering I never told her which course I got into, I figured she'd assume I got into general studies or something. Definitely not the hero course.

"I took the test, and-"

"You passed, yeah, you already gave me the same spiel! I meant, how? With just swords? You?!" You know, I'm starting to get a bit offended. I stood up.

"Look, Tohsaka, I trained. A lot. Every day. Then I took the test, and I passed. That's all there is to it. I want to be a hero, and I'm going to be one. If you think I don't have it in me, then that's not my problem. If I'm lacking, then I'll fail, but until then...I'm here to stay. Okay?" I asked, calmly. She looked stunned, her eyes wide. I looked around and saw that most of the class had a similar reaction. Looks like I was the one who made a scene this time.

I looked back at Tohsaka, who had narrowed her eyes at me, and prepared to be yelled at again. That didn't happen, though. She just stared at me, her eyes slowly losing the edge they previously had, until she was smirking. Then she said, "Ok then, Emiya. Let's see if I truly underestimated you," and walked off to the other side of class and took a seat. As soon as she sat down, some commotion began going on over by the door. It was...cute girl? Iida? Smash kid? They seemed to be staring at something out of my view. Then, a man in a sleeping bag abruptly appeared out of nowhere. Apparently, he's our teacher. He handed out gym uniforms and ordered us to go change and meet him outside on the practice field.

As us boys headed off to our respective locker rooms, I found smash kid and caught up to him in the hallway. "Hey, uh, kid. It's me, Shirou Emiya," I said to smash kid as I grabbed on to his shoulder. He froze up immediately after I made contact with him, like he was expecting to be hit or something. As soon as he heard my voice, though, he visibly relaxed. He turned to face me, sporting a huge smile on his face.

"Hey, Emiya! Glad to see you made it in!" He said happily. We continued to walk towards the locker rooms, talking about random stuff like how our summers had been and how awesome it was to get into U.A. Then, I realized something. What's his name?

"Uh, this feels kind of awkward to ask now, but what's your name? I never got it back at the entrance exam," I explained. His face lit up with surprise, then shifted to embarrassment.

"Yeah, I guess I never told you at the exam," he said, smiling nervously and rubbing the back of his neck. "It's Izuku Midoriya," he said. Oh yeah, I think All Might mentioned that I helped an Izuku Midoriya in my entrance results. "I actually never got your name either," he continued. "You just introduced yourself now, though, so I used your name. What I mean is you didn't introduce yourself before, though..." He began to trail off into unintelligible mumbling. I raised an eyebrow and shook him by his arm a bit. That seemed to snap him out of it. He then repeatedly apologized for his little 'episode.'

As we made our way towards the field, I saw Tohsaka staring at me from the other side of our pack of students. The second we locked eyes, she jerked her head in the opposite direction so hard she almost snapped her own neck. Looking over the rest of my fellow classmates, I noticed a blond kid glaring at Midoriya so hard that it seemed like he was trying to kill him with his mind. Considering I have no idea what his quirk is, I should actually be prepared for that as a possibility. I wonder what his deal is, though.

Once we were out on the field, our teacher, now introduced as Mr. Aizawa, went over how schools didn't handle quirks right. Apparently, he planned to fix that in our little corner of the world. We were to participate in a normal physical exam. The catch? You get to use your quirks. Simple enough. He then went on to call up that blond kid from before, Bakugo, to give a demonstration of how much farther he can throw a ball with his quirk than without it. Apparently, he can throw it about ten times further. He used explosions to propel the ball into the sky. Definitely an impressive quirk. However, his angry disposition and the fact that he screamed 'die' while throwing his ball don't exactly strike me as heroic traits. Well, I could be wrong. I'll figure him out with time.

"This is what I'm talking about!"

"We can really use our quirks now?! That's the Hero Course for you!"

"This looks like fun!"

"You think this looks fun, huh?" Aizawa said, looking over at us. "You have three years here to become a hero. You think it's all gonna be games and play time?" He asked. Then, he smiled at us sadisticly. "Idiots. Today you'll compete in eight physical tests to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in last has none, and will be expelled immediately."

Shit.

So, which one of us is going to be kicked off the island, huh? This is how Japan's greatest hero school operates? I glanced over at the other students, and the reactions varied from stoic to completely shocked. Tohsaka looked perfectly calm and serious, while Midoriya seemed to be freaking out. This left me surprised and angry. This shouldn't be how a hero school goes about things. As I was thinking over the situation, someone decided to speak up about it.

"You can't send one of us home! I mean, we just got here! Even if it wasn't the first day, it's not fair!" Cute girl exclaimed. Wait, no. I think back to what All Might said in my acceptance letter. Ochako Uraraka. That's her name, I think. Uraraka stood her ground, staring at Aizawa defiantly. Until he spoke, that is.

"Do you think that natural disasters are fair? Or power hungry villains, hmmm? Or catastrophic accidents? No, they're not fair. It's a hero's job to combat that unfairness. Go beyond. Plus Ultra style. Now then, let's move on to the actual assessment, first..." Ok, now expulsion is on the table. That's fine, I can deal with it. I just have to pass; I gotta make sure I actually stay here. I don't even have to score great, just not last. That last place person, though...no. I can't think about that now. I have to focus on me. After all, pitying the student who scores in last place won't make anything better. All I can do here, as much as I hate it, is focus on myself. Time to pass another test. No worries. I scored the highest on the entrance exam; this should be no problem.

Boy, was I wrong.

First up was the short distance run. Wait, this is a quirk test, right? How am I supposed to use Kanshou and Bakuya here? Oh shit. I can't. This is a physical test. Strength and endurance. This has nothing to do with fighting. My swords are practically useless in this kind of test! What if everyone else's quirks augment their physical abilities in some way except mine! I might fail here and get expelled, and my dream will end...

No! I won't let it end here, not after coming this far! I've got two swords, I just need to figure out how I can use them here.

"Emiya, Tohsaka, you're up first," Aizawa told us. Great, of all the people to get paired with, I get her. As I walk up to the starting line, I catch Tohsaka staring at me again. Not like last time, though. Now, it seems, she's intrigued. Like she's curious about what I'll do. Great. She finally decided to give me a chance to show her what I'm made of, and it's when I can't do anything. We both position ourselves on the line, and then...bam, the shot goes off. We both fly from our readied positions and onto the track. I glance over to her, curious about how she'll handle this. Turns out disappointment is all that awaited us both, as we both ran pretty normal sprints; with me finishing just ahead of her.

As we caught our breath, she glared at me and said, "I'm not impressed." I gave her an incredulous look.

"You didn't use your quirk either!" I protested. Now that I think about it, what did she expect me to do here? Use my swords as propellers and have the power of wind push me across the finish line? "Plus, I beat you," I pointed out. As soon as I did, her face heated up a bit.

"Well, there were no quirks involved in that one, so let's just call it a draw, okay?" I just stared at her with an unbelieving look. As I didn't seem to be buying the crap that she was selling, she just huffed, turned, and left. As she settled back into where she was standing before, she noticed something to her left and turned to the side to find someone next to her. Me.

"Wha-what? What are you doing, Emiya?" She asked, appearing slightly flustered and confused. I smiled. It seems I have the upper hand for once. I was just going to ask her a few things about herself since we never talked much in middle school. Figured it would be a good idea to know about my classmates, no matter how irritating to be around they are. That's when I had a more appealing idea.

"Just standing next to a friend," I said innocently, all the while moving closer to her. This seemed to push her over the edge. She backed away quickly with a worried and shocked look on her face; so quickly, in fact, she fell right on her ass. As soon as she hit the ground, everyone looked over due to noticing the movement from the corner of their eyes, or they were already enjoying the show we were putting on. It was unprofessional and unbecoming of a future hero to be doing something like this, but I was enjoying myself too much.

"Having fun?"

"Yeah, I actually am-oh no," I cut myself off.

"Yeah," said Aizawa from directly behind me, "oh no." He walked over to Tohsaka and helped her up. "And what was it, exactly, that you were enjoying doing?" He asked.

"Ummm, I was, uh, messing with her?" I say, as it's all I can come up with that's not, 'I was teasing her by getting up close and saying we were friends because she has always teased me whenever we came into contact in the past.' Aizawa looked unconvinced.

"Well, I would appreciate it if you kept the teasing of your female classmates to a minimum from now on and focused on your school work, instead. I don't care that you scored first on the practical exam; you'll get no special treatment from me." That part caught peoples attention. I heard a few gasps and could feel the stares from behind me. "If you think you're 'hot stuff' and can get away with doing what you want because you're good at what you do, you can leave now," Aizawa lectured. The entire time he was speaking, he moved closer to me, and by the time he was finished, he was six inches away from my face. "Clear?" He asked.

Aizawa wasn't just saying this in public for no reason. He was trying to ridicule me in front of the rest of the class, to get me to back down because he probably thinks I'm some kind of person that I'm not. Yeah, that little out of character scene I made by messing with Tohsaka was definitely not a good first impression for a student; or anyone, really. I have to show him who I really am if I don't want him to hate me, because I feel like he is the kind of guy who would make my life a living hell if I acted out of term enough. So I stood up straight, looked him dead in the eye, and said, "Yes sir, I'm sorry I acted out of term. It won't happen again." That seemed to confuse him. For anyone who didn't know me that was watching me today, I probably looked like I made a heel face turn so hard it should've given me whiplash. He probably expected sass or a joke, not this.

"Ok, Emiya. We'll see," he told me. Then, he shifted his gaze back to the rest of the class. "Everyone, we're going to move inside for the grip test. Follow me." As we followed, I found someone walking right next to me. Hey, that's...

"Iida! I knew I saw you earlier! Congratulations on getting in!" I congratulated him, excited that my friend got in.

"Thank you, Emiya, but I must ask you something," he said, looking serious. I wonder what's wrong.

"Sure, Iida. What is it?"

"Were you harassing that girl a moment a go?" He aaked, gesturing at me with his left arm repeatedly. Oh boy.

"Iida, I know her. I was just messing with her. She's always teasing me, so when she showed a moment of weakness, I thought...I'd get back at her," I say, a guilty smile on my face. Iida showed a look of sympathy for a moment but then went back into full on lecture mode.

"Still, those kinds of actions are inappropriate and improper for someone aspiring to be a hero!" He lectured. "However...your actions in the past have shown me what kind of person you truly seem to be, so I'll let it slide this time. Don't expect me to be so lenient on rules all the time, though!" Iida said, moving his arms all over the place.

Although intended to seem like stern and serious judgment over my actions, I just smiled at Iida's antics.

Ok, I performed decently enough on one test. Now for the rest. I just have to figure out how to use my quirk to help me pass.


	6. Rationality, Rapports, and Home Runs

**Chapter 6: Rationality, Rapports, and Home Runs**

We moved into the gym for the grip test, I guess the equipment was in there, and Aizawa passed out the dynamometers. Once I was handed mine, I switched it to my left hand and began stretching my right. Once I was satisfied, I tossed it back, took a deep breath, and squeezed as hard as I could without pulling a muscle.

After I finished, I glanced down at the machine. Sixty-five kilos. Good, way above average. I wasn't sure what I'd score, considering I hadn't done this test in a while. I look around at my classmates to gauge their own reactions to their results. Midoryia looks devastated, probably because he's comparing himself to the guy with six arms judging by where he's looking. Shifting my gaze around the room some more, I notice that Rin looks satisfied and Bakugo looks smug. I'm starting to get the feeling I'm not going to like this guy.

Once we were back outside, we started the third test: the standing long jump. Bakugo and laser guy, who is apparently named Aoyama, blasted across. Next up was Tohsaka. I wonder how she's gonna use that quirk of hers here. She stood at the line, and...took off her shoes? Once her shoes were off, her feet began to glow red and black. She leaned forward and blasted off through the air, making a perfect landing on the other side. So, she consolidated her energy in her feet and expulsed it with her jump to boost herself to the other side. Her quirk, Energy, sure is something else. She's able to charge energy and release it, through herself or objects. Not only that, but she's a genius and beautiful. She'll make not only a great hero but a popular one too. I hope I can do the same, but how can a guy who makes swords compete with people like Rin Tohsaka? Needless to say, however, I couldn't do the same on this test. I did good, for a normal person. If this keeps up, I might be in trouble.

Test number four: repeated side steps. That small kid, Mineta, didn't look like much at first. To be honest, he still really doesn't, but at least now he seems like he might be useful in the right situation. As for me; another test, another normal score.

For the next test, we made our way back to where we started. Bakugo was apparently exempt from this one due to his ball throw earlier. Everyone proceeded to take turns throwing, with Uraraka being the stand out this time. Her distance: infinity. Well. Does that mean that she automatically gets first place? How do scores on the individual tests contribute to your overall placement in this assessment? Did she just break the test? I guess it doesn't matter, to me at least. I'll let Aizawa deal with the scoring, I have to focus on staying in this school.

As Aizawa calls my name, I walk towards the circle, looking around as I do. I catch the gazes of my classmates. Bakugo is eying me with a hard look like he's suspicious of me. Rin looks irritated; probably with the test for not letting me utilize my powers so far, and that she can't reasonably blame me for it since it's not my fault. Eh, she'll probably still blame anyway. Didn't stop her earlier. Iida looks at me sympathetically, probably because he knows if we were being tested on practical ability and skill related to being a hero, I would be doing much better. Midoriya has a similar look to Iida, but not as knowing and more worried. Probably because he hasn't really seen me in action yet. Hell, he might never see me in action if I don't start to turn things around. I walk into the circle and start to think. How can I use a sword to throw a ball? Oh, wait. Is it really that simple? How did I not think of that until now?

I reach out my right hand and say, "Trace on." Blue motes began to generate around my hand, forming into a curved form. A second or two later, in my hand was Bakuya. I heard a gasp from the crowd, a girl I think, but I ignored it and continued. I bend down and grab the ball, taking a deep breath after I stand back up. Then, as I'd seen done, and only done a few times myself before, I threw the ball in the air and swung Bakuya with all my might. A huge smack was heard as the ball went flying. Yep, that should definitely be a home run. Maybe. I'd never really had time for baseball. I look down at Bakuya, checking on how it held up under the swing.

"Not too well, it seems," I mutter to myself as I notice it's slightly bent shape. If Bakuya was a normal sword, it would definitely need repair. Luckily, being apart of me exempts it from needing upkeep. I turn around to look at Aizawa and catch my classes reaction. Most of them look a bit dumbfounded or surprised, and a couple just look amused. Strangely enough, a tall girl with black hair among them looks completely shocked; almost like I just walked up to her and slapped her across the face. That reaction, while weird, still has nothing on Tohsakas wide eyes coupled with her jaw on the ground. Then that stupefaction changed into rage and annoyance, eyebrows furrowed and eye twitching. Then she glanced around at the looks she was getting and quickly, and kind of comically, composed herself. Her slightly red cheeks, colored from embarrassment, were all that remained of her silent outburst.

"So," someone said, breaking the silence, "did that guy really just freaking homerun that thing? With a sword?" The speaker was someone I remember from the locker rooms. His yellow hair and black lightning bolt highlight were hard to forget.

"It seems he did," said Iida, with slight pep to his voice and a smile on his face.

"That was INSANE!" said...where was that voice coming from?

"Is your quirk making things or just swords?" Asked a pink girl.

"Enough," said Aizawa. He wasn't loud, but everyone shut up pretty quickly. "That was...surprising, Emiya. You thought out of the box to use your quirk in what I assume was a new way?" He questioned.

"I only played baseball a couple times in elementary school," I answer simply.

"Very well. Score wise, you did good as well. Not as good as Bakugo or Uraraka, but good," he said, holding up his phone. On on it was the number…

"One hundred and seventy-four meters," I read, bringing me to smile.

"Good job, Emiya," Aizawa monotoned. I couldn't tell for sure whether it was a compliment or sarcasm, so I took it as the former. "Midoriya, you're next."

Midoriya started walking up to the circle as I walked back to the crowd. We locked eyes as we approached each other. It looked like he wanted to say something, but was hesitating. Probably due to nervousness if his appearance is anything to go by. Wait, why would he be nervous? I know he's meek and shy, but his quirk...oh. His quirk, it hurt him last time he used it. Does it always do that? It must, or he would've used it in smaller amounts earlier. His arm was completely broken last time he threw a punch, will throwing a ball do the same thing? If it does, he can't finish the rest of the assessment with a broken arm. He'll fail with normal scores and be expelled without his power. He'll fail due to not completing the assessment and be expelled with his powers. He's trapped. Damn it, how can I help? How can change this? I...I can't. He...should've known. You can't be a hero with a power that always breaks you. I hope I'm wrong about you Midoriya, but I don't know how you can pass. I'm sorry.

"Huh, w-what did you say, Emiya?" Midoriya asked, looking at me, confused. Shit, I must've said some of that last part out loud.

"Nothing, Midoriya. Just, good luck," I tell him, walking past him and back into the crowd. As I head towards Iida, I see the girl from a minute ago. The shocked girl. Shocked girl is staring at me, but she seems like she's trying to be discreet about. She was not doing a good job. Maybe she was surprised by my quirk? I'm not sure, but I can't deal with a casual conversation with a stranger right now, so I keep walking. As I pass Tohsaka, I notice her fuming from a side glance and keep walking. I'm gonna pay for that later, along with everything else, but I keep walking regardless of my self-preservational thoughts. I reach Iida and stop next to him, saying, "Hey." Well, I've never had many friends. I could be doing worse.

"Hello, Emiya. You did very well on the ball throw. Very inventive use of your quirk. It seems I was worried for nothing," he responds with a soft smile. Worried? Was he worried I wouldn't pass? Are we that close yet? I feel like it took me and Issei longer to get that close, and Shinji...Regardless, I appreciate it.

"I guess so. Thanks for worrying, though. It means a lot," I say, giving him a big smile.

"You're welcome. It's what friends are for, I suppose. I... haven't had that many in the past, but I assume being worried about each other comes with the territory?" He asked, seriously. I stared at him for a second before I started to laugh. Who'd have thought I'd meet the perfect person to become my friend here; someone just as inept as me at these things. I think I was laughing a bit too loudly, though. I could've sworn I saw Tohsaka out of the corner of my eye looking at me like I'd gone crazy. Iida was giving me a similar look. As soon as I calmed down, I decided to speak again.

"It's fine Iida. You are being a completely normal friend," I said in between chuckles, "I'm kind of new to this too. I just found it a bit funny how similar we are in that area. I'm glad to be your friend. I look forward to working with you," I said with an outstretched hand. He looked at me with shock for a moment. Then, his face morphed into a beaming smile as he reached out for my hand. Just as we were about to shake, though, something whipped out at Midoriya from out of my vision. It grabbed him and pulled him towards...Aizawa? Aizawa just held him there, glaring at him and saying something as Midoriya trembled and exclaimed that Aizawa was the hero Eraserhead. Rage ignited in me. Midoriya was already going to most likely get kicked out, because of him. Now, the nice, helpful, meek, heroic Midoriya was being held in the air and scared out of his mind by the same guy who was going to ruin his dream and has been nothing but a jerk so far? A guy that was supposed to be a hero? No. I pulled back my hand and started walking towards Aizawa and Midoriya.

"Aizawa!" I yelled, getting everyone's attention. That included him, as he gave me a curious side glance in response. "Put down Midoriya. Now," I said, not as loud as my yelling a second ago, but my voice filled with steel regardless. I heard a gasp or two from the crowd and Midoriya seemed to freak out even more, trying to say something but not being able to get any words out. Aizawa turned to look at me with a raised eyebrow.

He then turned away, set down Midoriya, and walked away, saying, "You can't control your power. You injure yourself when you use it and will be a liability in battle. Izuku Midoriya, you cannot become a hero with that power. You've got your quirk back, so give it another go. Get it over with." As Aizawa walked away, Midoriya stood there muttering to himself. After listening to him talk to himself for long enough, I put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at me with wide eyes.

"You don't have to do this, you know," I said, causing him to give me a questioning look. "This test, I mean. I don't know your full situation, but I know you hurt yourself when you use it. If-"

"No," he said firmly, looking at me with determination. "I have to do this. For myself, and the people who believe in me. I have to try." The look on his face, his eyes. It reminds me of the one time that Fuji-nee…

 _"You get this look on your face, this look of determination when you talk about being a hero! Your eyes just scream at me, saying, 'Nothing's gonna stop me!' You know how I feel about you getting into danger, but when you get that look on your face I really believe you can do it!"_

"You know what? I believe in you. You can do it. As long as you don't let anything stop you and keep that determination, you can be a hero," I tell him, telling him what I tell myself every day. Do I believe what I just said? Can he be a hero? I'm not sure. What I do know, though, is that when I look at him, I see a bit of myself. I see a boy who will never give up, and sometimes that's all you need.

Midoriya looked up at me in utter shock. Then, he started to tear up. As he held back the tears, he grabbed me in a hug. Well, I didn't see that coming. As he hugged me, my arms hung at my sides, my body as stiff as a board. I also swear I heard a squeak of delight from a couple of the girls. Oh no, not again. I do not need a repeat of the Issei Incident.

"Ummm, Midoriya? Could you please...let go?" I asked as politely as possible. He looked up at me with watery eyes as I said this, then he registered what came out of my mouth and went full Midoriya.

"O-o-ohhhhh! I'm so sorry, Emiya!" He yelled as he flung himself away from me and bowed to me as he began hitting me with a barrage of apologies. This got a few laughs from the class, while Aizawa just sighed.

"Emiya, get back to the group; you can talk to Midoriya later. Midoriya, get to the circle and get this over with," he said in his usual monotone voice. With Aizawas reminder of what he has to do, Midoriya's face went from frantic back to determined.

He looks at me for a second and then said, "I won't let you, or anyone else, down." I gave him a nod, and we continued towards or spots. Standing next to Iida again, I watched Midoriya silently. Then, Iida asked me something.

"Do you think he can do it?" he said. Iida's smart, of course he came to the same conclusion I did about Midoriya's power.

"Logically, he probably shouldn't be able to," I said honestly, "but I believe in him."

Iida looked at me strangely but then went back to his normal blank face, saying, "Very well, then so shall I. He has defied expectations before. If you believe in him, then I can give him the benefit of the doubt and believe in him as well." We then turned back towards the circle as Midoriya wound up the ball and threw it, yelling one word. Smash.

 **Author's Notes**

 **Shit, this took way longer than it should've, but life happens. Also, laziness happens. It won't again, though! Hopefully...**

 **Regardless, here's the new chapter. The next one should be up soon, It shouldn't be more than a week or two at the most. Thanks for bearing with me, and thanks for reading! If you have any questions, please either review or PM me and I'll answer them the best I can with spoiling too much. Well, that's it for this time. Oh, also, I was thinking about putting a thing after each chapter but before the AN that has the description of all the original quirks. Let me know what you think.**

 **-Aqua**


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